Time And A Half Is Part Of Overtime Pay

Time and a half must be paid to all employees who work over eight hours in a day or over forty hours in a week here in California.

For years employers as stated in the video have failed to pay employees correctly. It does not matter if the failure to pay overtime at the rate of time and a half was an accident, failing to pay overtime can cost employers dearly. One of the things that many employers take for granted, or worse yet do not even consider is that a class action lawsuit can be started with just two employees. Sometimes the failure to pay the time and a half rate of overtime is because the employer has failed to classify his or her employee correctly.

Many times an employer will classify one of their employees as exempt even though that employee does not meet all of the conditions to be considered to be exempt. In order to be exempt the employee must meet both financial and executive decision thresholds. The employee must make at least double minimum wage, and be in charge of at least two employees. The executive exemption means that the employee has the ability to both hire and fire employees as well as make executive decisions regarding purchases and so on. If the employee does not make double minimum wage and have the ability to hire and fire then they are not exempt. As a result when this happens and the employee works overtime and is not paid the time and a half required by California Overtime Law, this is a lawsuit just waiting to happen. The miss classification of employees by employers is one of the hot buttons here in California.

Because of the risks involved it is always in the best interest of the employer to make sure that they are paying overtime and at the proper rate of pay which is time and a half. Should the employee work 12 or more hours in a day they need to be paid double time.

So as stated in the video overtime is any hours worked the exceeds either 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Once an employee’s reaches that point they must be paid over time. If the employee works seven days in a row he must be paid at the rate of time and a half for the first 8 hours and then he must be paid double time for anything more than 8.

This bears repeating overtime is a major issue here in California I would encourage all employers to make sure that they are paying their employees correctly. This is not the good ole days and employers are being sued on a regular basis. You may not have know this but there are over 180,00 website helping to educate employees on what they have to do in order to have a lawsuit.

Another mistake that employers make is they require their employees to come to work early and then fail to pay them for that 5-10 minutes per day. In short order that can add up and you may find yourself at the work end of a lawsuit. If an employees is asked to come to work early and they are in the building they should be punched in and paid accordingly.

Employers must also remember that even if an employee works overtime that was not approved of by management the employee still must be paid. This is also true even if you have a policy in place that says all employees must get approval for all overtime worked. In California an employee cannot sign away their legal rights. Once you have paid the employee their overtime you do have the right to discipline them. But again the employee must be paid at the rate of time and a half for any overtime worked. In conclusion it is always better to be safe rather than sorry. Should you have any questions or need any help.

Just a reminder all employees must be paid their wages ten days after the last day of the pay period. Failing to pay your employees correctly is called wage theft and when found out can turn into a very costly mistake. In these litigious times I would encourage all employers everywhere to not take any chances with your employees pay. Should an employee take you to the labor board you will find that you will have to continue to pay your employees wages even though they no longer work for the company. You will have to pay from the last day the employee worked until the case get settled which could be up to six months or more.

So in conclusion make sure you pay your employees both on time and the correct amount. If your employee works overtime pay it don’t look for way around it. And pay it at the correct rate starting at time and a half for anything over 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week.